


Coldier's Drift

by Shimmershot



Category: Andromeda (TV)
Genre: A Moment Like This, A Touch of World Building, Beka is on a Rampage, Blend In, Eureka Maru, Gen, Harper Needs to Work on Communication, He Totally Jynxed Them, Rhade Actually Does Have a Plan With This, Rommie's a Good Shoulder to Lean On, Season 4 Was Awesome but Needs Some Work, The Maru's a Good Bro Considering, You Gambled with the Maru, and lived, divide and conquer, handwavey science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22765648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shimmershot/pseuds/Shimmershot
Summary: AU One-Shot that takes place around the start of Season 4.  The Maru and her crew find trouble.  What else is new.OrFollowing a successful supply run, the Maru stops in at a Drift. It becomes a bit of a chore to get back and reclaim the ship.
Kudos: 2





	Coldier's Drift

The Bridge of the Eureka Maru had a life-long history of being host to the more boisterous conversations than there were stars in a galaxy. Often times, the cockpit was more communal than the Living Quarters; especially in more recent years. And while Beka Valentine – owner and pilot of said Maru – would find herself missing the simpler days of being a family with her crew in the bowels of the ship, she found she really wouldn’t change this “new” normal for anything. 

Because this thing right here? Where Harper spoke free snarky insults at a Nietzchean? Where he could flirt non-stop with the Avatar of a High Guard Warship and be creatively put in his place? Where she herself could pilot her ship without feeling like it would barely make the Slip Point? This was special.

She’d freely admit that life on the Andromeda Ascendant was consistently stranger than fiction. But she would never trade it for something calmer. Not, and it pained her to admit this to even herself, even if it meant her dad and brother would come back. 

“Might I suggest,” Harper derailed his string of insults suddenly, drawing a quirked brow from the Nietzchean he’d been pestering, “That we make a stop in at Coldier’s Drift? They’ve got a sale on a few things we need and we just happen to be in the area.” He spoke smoothly, trying to work his rusty silver tongue. He wasn’t at a station, hunched over the rail just behind Beka. “Nice enough if you don’t mind the bugs. Nice place to barter and well within price range,” he pitched.

Rommie didn’t so much as glance his direction as she dryly shot back, “I suppose it doesn’t have anything to do with the Tech Expo they’re hosting this week, hmm?” She wasn’t even focused on anything in particular, running through the Environmental Controls and sequences without actually having to do anything physical. She still caught the vague amusement from the other three.

Harper almost appeared betrayed. He was king at the kicked puppy look and exercised it every chance he got. “What? Rom-Doll, I am only thinking of our best interests here. Coldier’s Drift isn’t that far.”

“It is in the opposite direction, however,” Rhade commented, quirking a brow the Engineer’s direction. 

Harper made a face, turning to look over his shoulder, “Oh so you do know what direction North is.” Rhade cooly blinked back at him. “Congratulations. Regular old Boy Scout.” Which was an Earth Reference that soared over everyone’s heads including Rommie’s.

“I wouldn’t make lightly of the skill. It’s quite handy,” the Nietzchean returned quietly with a small smirk. “I don’t get lost as easily as some of our crew.” 

Harper ignored the barbed retort, knowing it was technically aimed at him after his latest excursion planet side had gotten him – and subsequently all of his group – lost. Instead, he refocused on the Android on his other side with a cheesy grin in place. “Plus think of all of the shiny new stuff I could get you. Data chips… new software patches… even the chance to snatch up a brand new hydro-electrical converter coil!” 

Rommie finally shot him a look, “Stop drooling, Harper. Beka doesn’t want that all over the Bridge,” which Beka humphed at. “We’ve already secured the items we were sent for. On Cavillo. Anything else is outside of our price range.” Which was one hundred percent true – they were running on a budget these days. They really couldn’t afford to “splurge”.

Harper whined in veiled frustration. “But it’s stuff we also need. I can only keep that converter going so long before it has a melt down. Besides, Dylan never said we couldn’t enjoy ourselves out here. And we’re early. There’s plenty of time to spare.” He shrugged at Rommie and shot that last bundle of words Rhade’s direction for his previous comment. Then he weaved his upper body around the rail enough so that his head was visible in Beka’s side vision. “Please Boss?”

Ultimately, it was Beka’s decision. Her ship, her rules. Granted, she was far more focused on bringing them through the uncomfortably exposed area of space they’d come across; she could still see the Engineer’s patent Sad Stare. “Don’t bring me into this,” she objected quickly, forcibly not looking at him. “You kids work it out amongst yourselves back there. Just let me know before we hit the Slip Point.” 

Just like that, Harper pulled back and was on his feet aiming for Rommie. Pleas already filling the air. Rommie lifted a brow with a disguised glare, “I’ll remember that Beka.” She turned that look on the smaller crewman, “Harper. Harper,” she reached out with a petite hand, gripping his shoulder and earning a small squeak. “Enough.” His face fell, jaw clicking shut loud enough to be heard by everyone else. She smiled at him, “Fine.” Hope filled his eyes like a flash flood. “You’re right. We have time; Dylan isn’t expecting us back for another day.”

Beka was smiling, though no one saw it. They did hear it in her voice however. “So it’s settled. Let’s go scope out Coldier’s Drift.” Harper whooped, almost succeeding in pulling Rommie in for a hug. “Wahoo! You won’t regret it Boss!” 

He didn’t catch the dark look shared between Rommie and Rhade. It was probably a good thing, as Rhade’s bone blades twitched in anxiety before laying still once more. As it was, Rommie agreed with the sentiment conveyed in the Nietzchean’s body language. 

=\=\=

The scent of Drift permeated the Eureka Maru before the Bay Door even opened. It hardly phased Beka and Harper as the “geared up” and strolled through the ship’s straight shot cat-walk. Rommie glanced at Rhade when he paused, a hint of cringe in his features before he quickly continued his stride. She felt a small need to smirk at the reaction, squashing it to remain professional.

They stepped into the Bay just as Harper opened the door, whistling shrilly. “Holy cow, look at this place!” He turned to face them, arms spread wide at his sides. “The Expo’s got to be something special if it spruced this place up. Doesn’t even stink!”

“Depends on your definition of stink,” Rhade challenged with a wary eye cast around the terminal. His guard was up, his shoulders tense and the flicker of disgust was back in his features. 

Beka snorted, stepping around him. “Better get used to that. That smell is everywhere in the ‘verse.” She shook her head almost exasperated. “Relax. You just scream Nietzchean.” He gave her a watered down glare, turning his attention away from her altogether a moment later and Beka scowled. “You can’t blend in even a little, can you? You should stay on the ship.”

“If there is need, I can and will,” he replied, ignoring her pursed look. 

“Well unless you want to bring everyone down on you – you, because I’m not going to claim to know you out there if you want to be stupid – you’d better bring it down a few notches. This area isn’t exactly friendly toward Nietzcheans.” Rhade rolled his eyes but adjusted his posture and Beka bit down on her tongue to keep herself civil. She never would have had to say any of this to Tyr. Even dressed fully Kodiak with bone blades unconcealed, he drew very little attention to himself unless he wanted to. “They’re not overly excited about the Common Wealth Charter either.”

Even dressed like a common Kludge; that same red sweater style that irked her – black and grey this time – and cargo jeans; he may as well have been wearing a uniform. He emitted more Common Wealth than Nietzchean. “I know how to blend, Beka,” he retorted, an icy stare aimed her way.

“Really?” her eyes flashed with the challenge in his stance. “Because you totally aren’t. You need to lose the stick up your-”

“Where did Harper go?” Rommie interjected loudly. She turned away from them, her eyes scanning the Market Place they’d meandered to. Beka whirled around, focus shifted effectively. “He’s vanished,” the Android commented dryly and unnecessarily. “And he’s not answering comms.”

Rhade let loose a growl barely audible enough to be heard over the shouts and jeers and every other sound in the Market Place. Beka smacked her lips. “And that means “Trouble” is bound to find us. Be on guard. All of you.” She spun on her heel, striding along the walk way with a determined purpose, ignoring the merchants calling her way. Rommie and Rhade flanked behind her, matching her speed as she turned through the maze of tents and booths.

She weaved through crowds this way and that, her mood increasingly sour, until she nearly came nose to nose with an unfamiliar but very obviously searching Nietzchean. She cursed, twisting away to avoid being noticed. Rommie and Rhade were curiously absent from her side, and she bit her lip wondering when exactly that had happened. 

The Nietzchean was Dragan. Very big, very obviously used to getting his way through sheer size and intimidation. No one seemed to actually realize he was a Nietzchean… he was dressed very much like the riff-raff that frequented this Drift and not in typical Clan-style. His blades were hidden beneath long black leather sleeves. ‘Damn you Tyr,’ Beka snarled in her head. ‘You too, Dylan.’ She pushed away from the partition she’d ducked up against and back out into the faceless crowd.

“Just my luck,” she hissed under her breath, eyeing more Nietzcheans in the main corridor where the restaurants were located. She fell back into the Market, feeling a little cornered.

“Oh. Hey Boss!” She stalled, going wide-eyed at Harper’s excited and overly loud greeting from somewhere to her right. Suddenly she saw him and he moved to show her something with a flourish, ignoring the frown on the Merchant’s face, “C’mere and look at this beauty! Waaaay out of price range, but… man. If I could, the things I could do with -”

“Harper shut up a moment,” she grabbed his arm and the hefty item with both hands, haphazardly pushing the thing back at the Merchant without care. That now empty hand wrapped around his mouth and she pulled him away quickly and as quietly as possible. He squirmed in her hold a moment once they stopped behind a bulkhead, caution lighting in his eyes as she scanned their chosen hidey hole.

“Boss?” he whispered against her hand, breath condensating against her palm and she may have grimaced and made a loud production of how gross that was under normal circumstances, but this time she didn’t dare let go of him. His hand paused above his blaster, trembling nervously. “What’s going on?”

She made swift eye contact and he flinched at the fiery fury within. “You. Don’t speak. We are going to have words later about just walking off in the middle of Nietzchean-palooza.” He paled dramatically, and she finally dropped her hand from his face, still holding tight to his green jacket. “And they seem to know we’re here. So hush.”

“You got it, Boss,” he whispered contritely, stepping close and turning his own eyes out in watch.

“The first was a Dragan,” she whispered. “I don’t know about the others. They’re not in Clan Colors. They were all differently built. We find Rommie and Rhade and get back to the Maru. Hopefully they had the sense to duck out of sight.” She glared in tense silence as the Dragan from earlier passed by as if she’d summoned him personally. After he vanished into the crowd, Beka turned to the Engineer in full seriousness. “Stay by my side, Harper. If we end up separated, just get to the Maru. No side tracking!”

He nodded sharply, well and fully cowed and not just a little frightened. Beka returned that nod, seeing and accepting the unspoken apology. Then they were moving. She and Harper knew each other pretty well, and no words were necessary between them. Both of them were experienced enough with Drifts and avoiding and sneaking. So as Beka casually pulled up a lavender shawl in liberation from an otherwise harried and distracted Merchant, Harper had already scooped a black hat from where it’d been discarded on the floor, pulled low over his eyes.

They probably looked ridiculous. While considered normal enough, anyone who knew them would think the additions bizarre and out of place. Purple wasn’t Beka’s best color, and it paired a little strange with her silver and grey themed ensemble, wrapped as it was around her shoulders and up over her head. Harper’s lime green jacket was a bit more tamed with the black hat’s appearance, but he generally didn’t wear hats and thus it seemed odd when paired with his physique.

And they evidently didn’t work as intended – a Nietzchean’s nose was a powerful thing – as Harper vanished from Beka’s side as they turned the corner out into the Main Corridor. His squeak nearly had her heart stopping. Held up by the muscled bruiser of a Dragan by the front of his coat, Harper was staring wide eyed at the predatory smirk aimed his way. Still, Harper was known for his false bravado, and he managed a cockney accent that narrowed the Dragan’s eyes. “Uh, hey there pal. Wha’ can I do ya fer?”

“Put him down freak!” Beka screeched as loud and as scared as she could possibly manage, pulling the shawl tighter around her to conceal her features. Heads turned around them, and she mentally smirked. Trust a Drift to pounce on known prejudices. No less than three men and a woman pulled guns and aimed – each of them a different race. 

The Nietzchean’s glare was extremely Tyr-like. But he slowly eased the small Human to his feet, and Harper made a face of disgust. “Nex’ time ya wanna scoop someone up, best be sure they yer type first. Didn’t know you Ubers were in ta Kludges.” He quickly turned and both he and Beka darted away, leaving the revealed Dragan to his fate. “Yeesh! That was a close call...”

“It’s not over, Harper. Remember this the next time we follow through on one of your little side-trips.” The atmosphere in the Drift flipped a full 180. All usual activity on the Drift was now bathed in suspicion and guard. The unspoken alarm raised faster than a pressure leak to the void. “Just once I’d like an easy trip somewhere that doesn’t lead to a shoot out.”

A weapon discharged back the way they’d come. Followed by screams and more shots fired. Beka glanced back incredulously. “I’ll apologize on the Maru,” Harper said quickly, grimacing. “We gotta find Rom-Doll and Rhade and skeedaddle before things get even more rough and tumble. I don’t want a repeat performance with that ugly mug back there, or anyone else’s. Unless she’s a certain hot Android.”

That was the last thing Beka heard before a migraine of epic proportions slammed into her unannounced and unwelcomed. Up was suddenly sideways and down was an unknown she had no choice but to trust. Dark splotches mixed with white in her vision and her hearing turned to static.

“…….-oss?……… Bo……… Boss?” And just like that, everything became clear again. It hurt like the dickens and she was a lot more fuzzy in the mouth than she’d like, but sense and reason rang true in her head and she growled into the floor. “Boss, you ok?” 

“Stop talking a second,” she snarled, knowing the jumble didn’t come across as clear as she wanted it to. Harper had a grating voice sometimes, even if he had lowered it to a soft timber of concern and understanding. She rolled to her side carefully. There was an uncomfortable pinch on her wrists, and she hissed at the idea of being restrained. Her legs felt numb and once again, her eyes stabbed in a reminder that she still had a headache. She could see Harper though. He was somewhat in her space, equally bound but far more coherent. “What happened?”

“You were clubbed from behind,” he explained, still soft spoken. “They brought us here. I think they’re goin’ through the Maru. Docking Point is down that way,” he nodded down the corridor.

She sat up, battling a horrible flair of nausea. “Those scum are on my ship?” The world spun and she graciously leaned against Harper’s offered shoulder. “Nietzchean’s?”

“Yeah. Same guys we passed before. Mr. Grab-n-Go apparently survived the shootout without incident. Unfortunately.”

“Did they,” she swallowed against the cotton mouth, “Did they say anything while I was napping?” She peered around, trying to force the world into focus. She recognized the truth in Harper’s assessment, recognizing the Corridor number as the one she’d Docked near. There were no moving bodies here. Likewise, there were no Nietzcheans either. 

Harper shrugged his other shoulder. “Nothin’ useful. Mostly just taunting us.”

“How about any sign of help?” She wasn’t sure if the Nietzcheans knew about the other two Andromeda personnel - she wasn’t even sure how they’d known about her and Harper - but she’d be damned if their supernatural hearing gave them away. Empty corridor it may be, she wasn’t going to take that chance yet.

“Not a one. Looks like we’re on our own, Boss.” Which was fantastic, if she dared say so herself. “And I’m stuck on trying to get these bracelets off. If I was still a flexible teenager, I coulda gotten my hands forward by now. I tried and I almost got stuck. And I’m not seein’ anything to pick ‘em.”

Beka quirked a brow. “I have something that’ll work. Shuffle over a bit,” she nudged him, pulling herself back upright. Harper eyed her warily, but followed the order diligently. “Turn so your back is to me.” He made a face, but shuffled some more, his fingers flaring upon completion. “When you feel it, take it. You’ll know it when you do.”

To both their relief, they were free less than two minutes later. “Yeesh Boss. Never saw you for the hair pin type.” He grinned broadly at her, helping her to her feet.

She wobbled as dark spots fought to invade her vision and bring her down again. “Wasn’t my best hair day,” she mumbled uncomfortably. She rarely fought her hair and even more rarely cared, but this morning she had felt a little too out of place waking up in a foreign room with Rommie and knowing there were untold strangers beyond. “It worked though.” She grabbed his arm, lighter this time, and pulled him along down the hall that would take her to the Maru. She frowned, giving her hip an extra shake with her next step. “Where’s my blaster?” Her holster was suspiciously empty.

“Creepazoid took ‘em,” Harper replied with a touch of sing song in his tone. Dry as it was. Beka pouted as she glanced around the next corner they came upon. He mimicked her actions in full in her peripheral and she bit back a grin. His sympathy pout was great.

All thought paused and she balked as a pair of blue skinned Perseids ducked around the adjoining corridor and disappeared into the final hall before the ship. Beside her, Harper gawked and blinked in similar confusion. “I didn’t invite any house guests, and it looks like we have more than our fair share.”

“Always did hate house guests. Never appreciate the efforts that go into hosting and clean up and maintenance,” Harper snarked after a moment. “You got a plan to follow?”

“Get on my ship,” she ticked blandly, “Kill anyone trying to kill us. Make contact with Rommie.”

Harper eyed her. Again. “That… sounds pretty difficult given our currently unarmed state, Boss.”

“Play it by ear,” she shrugged, turning the corner with a clipped “Follow me,” that she knew he balked at. He was hesitant, but he wasn’t going to sit around and twiddle his thumbs, either. Entering a hostile situation without a weapon was practically suicide. But if they could make it aboard… Harper knew where the stashes were. And she knew of the ones he didn’t.

They just had to get to that point.

=\=\=

Beka led them like some sort of avenging angel. Not that he would ever mention that string of thought to her… he preferred not being verbally castrated if he could avoid it. So it was highly likely that she’d never know how… beautiful her movements were. Deadly, purposed, confident. Accented by Rommie’s otherworldly grace, it was a sight he wished he could view from a distance armed with a camera lense. 

Unfortunately, they had a mission – such as it was – though he should probably interrupt the two women in some fashion. They were turning heads.

Damn Harper’s knack for doing exactly what he shouldn’t. Rhade had almost been looking forward to spending free time on the Drift once he had acclimated to the environment a little. He was in sore need of a few new items. He doubted Beka would let Harper’s disappearing act slide. Once they found him, they’d pack themselves back on the Maru and take off. No more Drift. Mentally, he sighed, wondering if he’d be able to step away on the next world they came across to do some personal shopping.

… Really, for as much crap as Beka had given him about blending in with the locale, she was a damn beacon.

Their 2iC rounded a booth and continued on her forward tear… but Rhade froze like he’d been sucker punched in the heart. The stand, so inconsequential to Beka in the fact it was teeming with the latest news from all over the known worlds, held front and center a recorded image of the explosion he’d been trying his best to ignore all week.

Fire. Smoke. Chaos. The Capitol Aries practically imploded even as destruction pushed out and away from it. Tri-Lorn’s somber voice rang in his mental ear, “As a husband and father, you’d want to know.” And that was true, in the morbid sense that Rhade had torn through everything their only true ally had sent. Images of the forensics and the aftermath had cut him to his soul, but in all of it, what he saw now on that big screen monitor, hadn’t been included. He hadn’t seen the destruction as it happened, knowing that somewhere within, his family had been crushed and burned and torn apart.

Rommie had synced her motions to both Beka and Rhade as the three of them glided through the Drift’s Market Place. Beka led with powerful strides and she never faltered as they weaved in and out of people and vendors. Rhade’s Nietzchean-lethal gait kept pace easily in time with Rommie’s own, and as a whole, they were turning heads.

Gods help Harper when they found him. Never again. Her Core would call her naive for agreeing to this in the first place, much less the fact she’d lost him in a record breaking five minutes.

Rhade’s sudden stop jarred her senses and she pulled her sensor sweep inward, glancing at Beka’s rapidly disappearing back, then back at where the Nietzchean stood as still as a statue. Rommie shook off her sync, closing the flare of errors that lit in her sensory net and moved over to him in concern. He looked almost pale, unnatural as that was for his kind. “Rhade?” she called carefully, knowing he should be able to hear her low volume despite the noise.

But he didn’t answer. He didn’t so much as twitch a muscle. Dark eyes were transfixed on a display of a fiery ball of debris. Hands clenched tight at his sides, shaking in strain, and Rommie frowned, glancing a bit more attentively to the holo. And froze. Terazed.

She stepped closer to him, almost double-taking at his vital readings. ‘Temperature is too low, elevated heart rate… he’s barely breathing.’ “Rhade,” she called a bit louder, hand touching at his upper back. Clammy… a cold sweat was coming through the dark sweater he wore – Geharis’ if she wasn’t mistaken. “Telemachus.”

He jolted as if she’d sent an electric current through him, eyes immediately averting down to the dark metal flooring. He did take a breath, heavy and shaking and burdened as it seemed, and he scrubbed at his face, clearly trying to regain composure.

Memory files replayed in her cortex, and she quickly made connections she, or more, her Core, hadn’t. Dylan’s mail call, and following request for an audience in his Quarters. Rhade’s out of character bust of emotion that ended in a reverberating punch to her wall that some of the Junior Crew had heard rooms away. It was more than just an explosion on his Home World.

It was more personal than that.

Dylan hadn’t given her further detail on the subject. She knew only what had been released to the Crew during Dylan’s speech. She hadn’t asked, figuring she’d find out more and add it into her Core memory as events arose. Terazed was an important planet, yes, but they weren’t in a situation to render aide. They were black marked, after all.

Rhade’s reaction should have struck her. His attitude over this last week had been a jumbling mess of confused signals and hot and cold conversations. He was almost hopelessly chatty now, taking to Harper’s sarcastic battles of wit and grit without hesitation. Rommie and her Core AI had missed a huge warning sign.

His family had to have been there, at the Capitol Aries. There was nothing else that would break his normal calm and collected bearing. And based on his shock now, coming face to face with the image of it all crashing down, she knew there was no chance they had survived.

“Rhade… come here.” She pulled his arm with enough power to lead him in a direction away from the booth. He allowed her to do so, not so much as looking where they were going as he squeezed his eyes shut and plastered a hand over them. 

Rommie stopped, glaring a squatter into departing her chosen space. The grungy man practically fled, a mumble of drunken word blurbs filling the air. The small alcove stank of alcohol and piss, but it was secluded and Rommie awkwardly pulled the Nietzchean into a hug.

He tensed, but didn’t pull away. Rommie made a mental note about tracking his circumstances better. He’d been dealing with this alone all week, and she knew enough about Nietzcheans to know how taboo that was. They weren’t emotionless or immune or whatever the stigma placed on them. They treasured family and children more than any other race alive. If one lost family members, they retreated to their Pride for comfort and to work through the pain of loss. Rhade wasn’t able to, trapped as he actually was within her walls thanks to their unique situation.

Tyr hadn’t been able to either, and she shuddered at the mental reminder.

Rhade was better at compartmentalizing than she’d expected. Better than Tyr, for sure, and perhaps even better than his ancestor. She hadn’t been the wiser to his situation. Not with his work ethic, his banter with Harper, and his smiles. A Pride would have ensured there be no surprises like this – they wouldn’t let him falter in public like this. Especially Majorum Pride.

He didn’t pull away from her, but he shifted in her arms. “Rommie?” there was a touch of confusion as he took stock of their change in location and their proximity. His voice tingled along the sensors in her shoulder. “I-”

“Do not apologize,” she interjected, feeling him twitch. “You are not alone. I want you to remember that.” She had only a handful of personal experiences with Nietzcheans, and none of them were necessarily good ones. But her Core memory had far more to work with, and while she wasn’t familiar with Majorum Pride’s customs and practices, she was certain they would have said similar long before now. And Rhade gave a slow nod, pulling back with wide and uncertain, haunted eyes. No tears had shed – he’d kept his emotions checked, but he was far from unaffected.

He didn’t say anything, but he surprised her by touching his forehead to her own, eyes sliding shut. She made another note to look into Majorum’s mannerisms. She was certain that this meant something, but so far removed as she was from her Core, she couldn’t begin to guess. Tyr had never done anything akin to this, and every Pride was different.

Evidently, no response was necessary. He pulled back, visibly calmer and more in control than mere moments before. He didn’t make eye contact, still reeling, but his heart rate was slowing to a more normal cadence and his breathing was deeper. “We lost Beka,” he said with a rough chop in his throat which he cleared sheepishly. “I should say, I-”

“We lost Beka,” Rommie agreed, brusque. “We’ll find her. And Harper. We need to get to the Maru. They’ll head there first thing to look for us. They’ve probably found each other by now.” He flinched at her wording, but nodded.

And then he stiffened and bodily plastered her against the wall. There was no need to ask why; her sensors were only a nano-second behind his enhanced senses. It didn’t hurt that the Dragan that casually sauntered by was a giant and appeared to be hunting. She was a tad thrown by the Dragan’s heightened senses not catching their scent… until she realized Rhade’s two month isolation and penchant for mingling probably had him smelling more like her Crew than others of his kind would. And that her olfactory sensors were picking up the chemicals of a cologne coming from his sweater. “Rhade… are you wearing La Coach?”

He huffed quietly and nodded against her shoulder before pulling back. The smug look on his face was painfully familiar, but she was unable to keep her own conspiratory smirk from smirking. “It was a gift. As I told Beka, I can blend in when I want to.”

“Color me impressed,” Rommie replied, turning for the direction of the Docking Corridors. “Let’s get to the Maru. The others will be ready to leave as soon as possible with Nietzcheans around.” Their anonymity was shattered thanks to Tyr’s final actions. He followed her lead without comment. She worried at his lack of trying to match equal pace for pace with her. A confrontation would be disastrous right now, and he knew it.

They delved back into the world of Merchants and Creds, wafting through the throng almost unseen. They kept their senses out, scanning the area for their missing friends – and taking the long way around the News Booth.

There was a ripple amongst the crowd and eyes swung as if tipped off psychically to Rhade’s arms. Entirely covered, bone blades fully hidden under normal looking sleeves, he wasn’t obvious and apparent… yet it may as well have been that he’d walked through a scanner. Someone screamed and blasters raised up to take aim.

Rommie drew her forcelance and fired without pause, grabbing Rhade reflexively as he caught himself from freezing up once again. She’d have words with Dylan later. Despite his previous friendship with Geharis specifically, she doubted the Captain had thought a thing about sending Rhade along on this mission so soon. It was a potentially deadly mistake, and she’d be sure he understood.

Tyr once again came up in her memory files, and she dismissed them with a vengeance. Their former teammate had been a product of his past, after all. Alone and miserable while pretending to be perfect and strong.

Additional shots echoed her own, and Rhade countered with a series of blasts from his own forcelance. He’d regained his focus quickly and they ran blindly through the Drift, not at all in the direction they’d been aiming for. They stopped in the sector the Maru had docked in and Rhade growled low in his chest. Nietzcheans were everywhere.

“Beka and Harper will run head long into this,” he commented quietly. Rommie had her sensors and Rhade had a keen nose. The pair of them had ducked out of sight, but their Human companions wouldn’t have that forewarning. Caution and experience could only do so much.

Attacking outright was risky. The sheer numbers presented and the unknown status of their teammates, not to mention Rhade’s own less than stellar battle-readiness. Rommie couldn’t simply sweep the enemies into submission. Even she had limits, and miscalculation wasn’t a risk she wanted to take.

She was stunned when Rhade suddenly turned to her with a grin that was far too Harper-like for comfort. “Random question here… have you ever dressed up as a Perseid?” And she was somewhat mystified when it was all said and done. This would surprise her Core into a lock-up and the smug Hologram into a tizzy.

Perseids. Really.

In a series of sneaky movements she hadn’t understood back into the Market Place – they were trying to avoid that area weren’t they? - Rhade evidently knew exactly what he needed and how to lift the items from varying shop keeps, which was actually exceedingly simple as most were still cowering in fear at the no longer sounding weapons’ fire. She found herself blue from her face to her shoulders, and her hands, and she was likewise dressed in a parka-like jacket that screamed foreign, and her hair tucked in under a thick hat. Rhade himself had turned blue in a similar manner, dressed very much the same and Rommie had to blink at the bizzare-ness of this turn of events. No one would believe they weren’t a Perseid pair. No matter how rare the race was in this galaxy.

Blend indeed.

The two of them walked right past the thinning crowd of Nietzcheans that hovered in the Main Corridor, and ducked around the next nearest bulkhead, bee-lining for the Terminal, Rommie in lead and Rhade a half step behind her. Focus on the mission: Secure the Maru. Retrieve Beka and Harper. Those were the primary objectives.

=\=\=

Beka and Harper stepped into the Loading Zone, the Maru’s Bulkhead in plain sight. To her and Harper’s joint surprise, Nietzchean bodies littered the foreground. “Holy moly,” Harper whistled, “Did those blue guys do this?” It was… strangely violent for the benevolent Perseids, but Beka supposed there had to be rotten apples in every race. They weren’t among the dead, after all.

“Maybe Rommie and Rhade are already aboard,” Beka replied, daring to say the names aloud in the face of the carnage. The visible kill shots were a little too accurate for just any gunslinger to manage.

Harper quirked brow of disbelief. “And the Perseids just waltzed on through all of this? Something smells funny, Boss.”

“It’s probably a trap,” Beka affirmed, picking up what he was putting out. She didn’t look away from the Bay Door. “You head for the Engine Room. Stay out of sight, but make sure its clear. If push comes to shove, we’ll need to pilot out from there and isolate ourselves.” 

“Eh… sure Boss,” Harper didn’t sound as onboard with that. He was self proclaimed out of practice with Piloting in general, much less from the manual station on the Slip Drive. And Beka didn’t blame him for that… she wasn’t fond of the idea either. “What’re you gonna do?”

She finally locked her blue eyes with his hazel, and his eyes widened before she’d even said a word. “I’m going to take back my ship.”

“Wh-woah hold on! You’re just gonna storm in and one-man it??” she heard him exclaim… but she was already running for the door and Harper gulped behind her before racing to follow.

She’d grown up on the Maru and she’d seen it through the good and the bad times. She could almost instinctually tell when something was amiss, just as she knew when her crew was having a good vs a bad day. That sixth sense told her that there was a battle. And Rhade and Rommie were on board. Relief flooded her with a heavy dose of adrenaline, and she snarled viciously at the body bent over the cat-walk’s railing. Unknown. Bone blades. It stuck out that this one was not killed by the scoring at his unmoving shoulder, but instead the twisted neck and adorned triplicate gauges along his arms.

Caught in the moment of viewing the dead stranger, she missed the motion of approach and large hands grabbed both of her shoulders. She stomped and twisted on reflex, feeling the iron toe through her heel and the iron grip of a Dragan tighten to a painful pressure. Evidently the crumpled body ahead next to the bulkhead wasn’t as dead as she’d thought. She threw a haphazard elbow backward.

Her funny bone instantly screamed as to why that had been a bad idea. Armor, and she paused in pained stun a moment as those beefy arms twisted to grab her in choke hold.

… Until the presence behind her vanished from behind her, falling in a death flail to the cat-walk floor with a rattle. Burning flesh wafted to her nose and she whirled back around to blink at Harper. “Really? I had that.”

“Sure ya did, Boss.” He tossed the blaster – freshly fired and pulled from a hidey hole she actually hadn’t known about – to her. 

“I did,” she insisted. She nodded anyway. “But thanks. Now, stick to the plan. Go.” She shooed him away with her unoccupied hand. He turned and vanished, his footsteps echoing as he made for the ladder. Nodding again, this time to herself, she took on a more Battle Ready posture and made her way in the opposite direction: toward the Bridge.

=\=\=

Rommie was more intimately familiar with the Eureka Maru’s systems than Beka probably knew. While he wasn’t a full blown AI to her own caliber, he was helpful and had a somewhat base consciousness of his own. He recognized Rommie and her Core AI as the same entity, even while acknowledging them both as separate from each other. The Core had gotten locked out of the Maru a handful of times, but the Maru had never barred her unless she herself had warranted such action.

Which was why she was able to pull up an interface as if she were within her own walls and scan through the ship to find exactly what she wanted. “Five on Command. There are two roaming in Living Quarters, and another in Engineering.” Counting the three they’d dispatched already, put the numbers at eleven. Seven had been out in Loading and an untold score still out on the Drift.

“A full contingent of Dragans,” Rhade nodded slowly, his focus sharpened and guarded. Nietzcheans had a nasty habit of masking from ship sensors far more frequently than anyone would like. 

Rommie discreetly bit her cheek – they’d discarded the parkas somewhere down in the Bay, but they were both still sporting a dark blue coloring and it looked absolutely ridiculous in their normal clothes. The costumes had been a successful venture, however. Up until they’d discarded the jackets, every Nietzchean they’d come upon had hesitated in confusion, and that was an advantage however small. “There is a possibility that two of these readings could be Beka and Harper.” Her own sensors were better suited for accurate signatures, but the Maru was limited.

“We don’t know their status. Is there any way we can try contacting them on comms?” Rhade paused, shaking his head slowly. “Right. Full on communication could give away their position. Or ours.”

“Without access to Command, I can’t cut our frequency from the Maru. Unless we were in the Engines, perhaps. If we down the Maru’s communication net, localized frequency could be established.” It would lower their range to ship-wide only… if their teammates weren’t onboard, they’d never hear it. 

… If they were even on channel to begin with. Harper hadn’t answered her hails, after all. Too wrapped up in the Tech Expo, he may not even have thought to grab one before leaving the Maru. And Beka wouldn’t risk open mic if she were aware of the Nietzcheans – and by now, she couldn’t have missed them prowling about.

Rhade hummed, head cocking in thought. “If we overload the Maru’s communication server, it would affect the open mics onboard. On our frequency or not.” He smirked at her and she quirked a brow at him. “It would bounce. Especially if there are multiple lines going around them.”

“You mean to cause a Snowball Effect,” she guessed with only a hint of trepidation. “It could black out the entire Drift and cause pandemonium.” Not to mention Beka’s fury at the damage to her ship… or Harper’s at having to fix it.

The Nietzchean gave a boyish shrug, faux innocence mixing with mischief and mayhem waiting to be had. “Only potentially. The Drift knows there are Nietzcheans here. It could be seen as retaliatory.”

“Its also highly illegal.”

“Only if we get caught. Which I may say, we won’t, because technically the Nietzcheans did it.”

Once again she was hit was a nostalgic sensation she’d come to truly recognize over the past years. Once, three hundred and three years ago, Geharis had said very similar words. Rommie gave a ghost of a smile, “Cheat is not only allowed, it is highly encouraged?” It was a tactical play, admittedly. “Dylan would not approve.”

“I’ll take that under advisement,” Rhade returned cheekily. “You get down there and do your damage. I’ll head to the Bridge and try to take down that group that’s nested there.”

=\=\=

If she didn’t know her ship so well, she may not have caught the fizzle that sounded in her ear. It was a sound she knew very well, having had her ear blown out a few times over the years when the communications hub was overworked into a mini meltdown. She didn’t hesitate.

The lights shut off all at once as she pulled the earbud from its place and threw it down. A loud squeal sounded from the speaker just as she stomped it – for good measure and on pure reflex. She smiled predatory. The playing ground had tipped further in her favor. She recognized the boon for what it was… one of her crew had nudged the “delicate” systems into an overload, and she knew the Nietzcheans had likely been hit with a crushing feedback to their heightened senses. Better still, the power was out until Harper could fashion a quick work around. Beka could maneuver the Maru in her sleep, and her night vision was close to perfect.

She didn’t expect a forcelance in her vision as she reached Living Quarters, however, and she nearly shot whomever literally melted out of the darkness at her before she realized the weapon wasn’t something the Nietzcheans would be using. At least, not the enemy Nietzcheans. She growled at the silhouette. “Cute, Rhade. I almost took your head off.” ‘I still might,’ she thought waspishly in response to the adrenaline rush she hadn’t expected.

“To be fair, I wasn’t entirely certain it was you. The Dragan I came across threw pepper in the air. My nose is irritatingly runny.” He shifted just enough that she was sure he’d run a sleeve along his nose for emphasis, and sniffed.

“There is such a thing as too much information, Rhade.” Beka rolled her eyes, striding passed him. “Seriously, I don’t need -”

“Beka,” his hand caught her arm just as her foot snagged on something that shouldn’t be on the ground, and he pulled her aside to correct her skewed balance. “Be careful. The Meathead I mentioned is on the ground there. Don’t worry, I’ll clean up my mess later.” He guided her over the body and annoyance and embarrassment flooded her. His night vision would be better than her own, wouldn’t it. It figured.

So much for her advantage.

She yanked her arm free, “Fine. Let’s go. I’m holding you to that, by the way. The Maru better be spotless. I mean it.” No longer trusting her sight, she ran a hand along the wall as she headed for the ladder. “Not a single spec.”

“Understood,” he sighed lightly. Then he removed her hand from the rung and before she could bitch at his presumptuousness, she had the sense he’d turned to face her. “I’ll take point. Your eyes aren’t adjusted to the dark yet, and its going to be a free for all with the Nietzcheans up there.” And then he hoisted himself up the ladder and she grit her teeth, unable to argue his logic.

And sure enough, as they reached the Bridge, laser fire was rained upon them, growls and shouts dancing in the air from the idiots that believed they could take her Maru and her crew. Not to mention the grand timing of the lights switching back on. Rhade took full advantage of the enemies’ pause, seemingly unaffected in the slightest at the burning light where none had been moments before, and bum-rushed them. Beka recovered just in time to see him swing his arms in a clothes line on both closest figures before swinging his forcelance from its holster into staff form. He twirled it once before swinging it like a pendulum over the rail and into the apparent would-be pilot and both on either side of him.

His back to the entrance, he didn’t so much as twitch when Beka’s weapon sounded twice behind him, followed by twin grunt-thumps. “That was reckless,” she huffed as he descended the stairs and clocked the three once more for good measure and secured them.

“The entire mission was reckless,” he said conversationally, “May as well go out on a similar note.” She raised a brow at him. That wasn’t the sort of response she’d expect from him – not with his usual penchant for always being an ideal soldier. 

“~Boss? We’re ready to rock our way outta this joint,~” Harper’s voice called from the Maru’s dimmed and slowly rebooting consoles. “~Rom-Doll affirmed that the Ubers you just dealt with are the last on board. I’m warming the engines now. We’ll be primed in a few minutes.~”

“~The Drift lost roughly twenty percent of their communications with our little stunt,~” Rommie added, audibly preening. “~And it sounds like they are in fact blaming the Nietzcheans as you expected, Rhade. Ships all over are beginning to disembark. We’ll be launching into chaos.~”

“All the better to cover our tracks,” Beka replied as she leaped into the Pilot’s Chair. She blinked as the Maru continued to hum to life around her and raised her voice. “You knew that overload would bring down the Drift?”

“Based on how many contacts were spread through the area, I believed it a high probability,” Rhade answered, voice wafting from the Tactical Station.

She smirked despite herself. “You gambled. With my Maru. I’d rip you apart, but we’re alive, so I’m going to let you off with a warning. And you’re still on cleanup.”

“I knew the Maru could handle the overload, and I was ninety percent certain they’d blame the Nietzcheans for it.” He was smiling, not annoyed, and Beka grinned at the compliment to the old ship. “And, Yes M’am. However I should point out, we have three bound offenders below.” 

“Right,” she huffed. “Bring our house guests to Living Quarters and post Rommie on them. We’ll dump ‘em and our trash at Cavillo and make our way back to the Andromeda.”

“Aye,” he acknowledged.

=\=\=

They reached Cavillo’s dark side – when the populace was drenched in night – and took the Maru down to the surface. Cavillo wasn’t heavily patrolled by the Common Wealth, nor was it a “Black Market” of sorts… just a simple planet with a simple people.

They landed in an open field, far enough away that no one would come looking immediately, but someone would be coming in the next hour or so thanks to the anonymous tip they’d called in. Rommie and Rhade dragged them down the ramp and threw them a little less gently than was probably High Guard approved. 

“It’s been a real pleasure,” Harper snarked as Rhade’s forcelance sent an unfriendly jolt through the three of them, silencing the insults that’d been slung at them almost non-stop the last few hours, “But learn how to clean up after yourselves before inviting yourselves over.” Rommie shot him a half amused look.

“The authorities will be in the area by morning. Which is only an hour away,” she advised. Harper pulled something from his jacket and stuffed it into each of the Nietzcheans’ attire. “A beacon? Harper, I don’t the Cavillians will miss them out here.”

“Maybe. But I don’t wanna find out they evaded authorities and are coming to seek revenge later. They’re junk anyway. We won’t miss ‘em.”

“I can appreciate that line of thinking,” Rhade nodded sagely in Harper’s direction. The Engineer stuttered in surprise. “Careful. You may start thinking like a Nietzchean.”

“Never in a million years.”

“Come on. Let’s get going. Dylan’s expecting us back onboard in a few hours,” Beka called, rolling her eyes at the banter. Rommie shared a secret smile with her as they ascended the ramp, the boys following without missing a beat.

Beka agreed with that secret smile. Moments like these… they were snippets of something special. Things she’d never have anywhere else, and she’d never give them up.

**Author's Note:**

> So starts my somewhat ambitious idea to give Season 4 an entirely different direction away from the disaster that was Season 5. Featuring a lot more Rhade. I'm not even sorry. 
> 
> Also, I'm a bit rusty with publishing works for public view. Please forgive any mistakes - but please let me know about them so I can fix them. I don't use a beta and have a hard time catching my own typos and grammar mistakes.


End file.
